Tummy Tuck: Stories

Hello, I have been browsing this website for weeks now preparing for my surgery coming up. I am a 27 year old mother of 3 boys ages 9,7 and 2 years old. I have wanted to get a full TT since my husband and I decided we were done having children after our last one. We have our 3 amazing little men and that is enough for us. I went in for an initial consult in Nov 2012 and scheduled the surgery for Feb 6th 2013. Today is my first day home after the surgery and so far I am feeling pretty okay.

Immediately following the surgery the nurses asked me to move beds which was honestly the most excruciating pain that I had felt still to this point in the process. My pain meds had worn off and that made it incredibly hard to move from one bed to the next. After I go into the recovery center I was well taken care of. The nurses were amazing and very punctual at making me as comfortable as I could be. It has been a challenge learning to get up and walk around all hunched over but I had a GREAT doctor which makes me feel much better about the end goal. I will try and upload some pictures here soon.

I am trying to figure out this website and hope I can get this to post

I will post more pics when I get home from seeing my PS this morning.

Well it took a couple days for my review to post so I will quickly go over those days then just start from today. I got home from the recovery center on Thursday Feb 7th and was not feeling to bad once I was placed into my recliner by my oh so amazing husband. From there on I pretty much slept. Walked. Did breathing exercises and uh hurt. Lol. I had a pain pump put in that I guess although it proved to be ineffective and didn't work a bit it did give me the false hope that it was working so I thought whatever tough it out you can do this lol.

Skip forward to yesterday feb 10th. Pain pump was not draining anything. The "balloons" were still fully inflated so I call my PS and he tells me to come in this morning and he will take a look at it. He's such a good PS. He's very attentive and makes you feel better just by talking to you. So my awesome hubby took off work today again so he could drive me the hr drive to go see my PS only to find out that somehow during inserting the pain pump the line that ran into the device was kinked. So. Maybe it would have done wonders. However I will never know because I asked my PS to pull it and ask for a refund from the company who makes it. Then I was also prescribed Loratab because beyond being useless on Percocet i was also very nauseous all of the time too. So I've taken one of them and I haven't felt bad yet. I am praying this will help cover the bits of pain that bother me while still allowing me to be a member of my family and see my husband and kids. I am truly blessed with such an amazing family and husband. He has been so amazing to me and I have no idea how I would have gotten through this without him.

I am currently 8 days PO and although some of the healing process has been challenging it has all been worth it so far. My husband had to go back to work on Tuesday so at 6 days PO I was alone throughout the day which had its different challenges from climbing up and down our stairs to go get anything to eat and drink to the sheer amount of boredom that I've been experiencing. I got my last drain removed Wednesday and wow does that feel...weird. It doesn't hurt but feels incredibly odd like a snake moving around under your skin. I've been able to be out of my recliner a little more to it least sit downstairs and watch my 3 little ones play. They always know how to make me smile.

All in all I have had a great experience. For anyone thinking about having a TT. I would say go for it. You deserve to have your body back make sure you research your doctor because that is very important. I've been very blessed to have a great PS who I would easily recommend to others.

I guess I should attempt to sleep though. That's a new development. Not being able to sleep well. I don't know if its because I am still more comfortable sleeping in the recliner which isn't that comfortable either or because I've pretty much reduced taking pain meds but sleep has evaded me tonight so here I sit updating my profile. This site has been amazing for my healing process. Any time I wondered if something was normal I was able to either ask or read other amazing ladies stories and learn from you. Thank you all for all of your information. It has truly helped me.

Well I guess it is absolutely true that you have your good days and your bad days when you have a TT.

Yesterday Post Op Day 10. I kept to light activity. Nothing big. Just walking around my house. Up and down the stairs quite a few times but nothing strenuous other than maybe picking up my 25 lb. 2 year old to wash his hands and face then putting him back down. But last night I noticed some odd swelling on my hips. More so where the CG doesn't compress well when I sit down. So my hubby and his infinite wisdom devised a plan to put more compression there. We opened a new pack of socks (I'm military and they are really thick) and folded them in half putting them in my CG over the swollen areas. I was in so much pain I took my pain pills which I've pretty much stopped and ended up taking a muscle relaxer to help me fall asleep. Along with icing my upper abs because they were throbbing so bad. I thought I was going to feel horrible today Post Op Day 11 but the extra compression worked! I felt pretty good and kept the socks in today and still feel good. I was able to try on a swimsuit and see how I look and although I Love the results so far I am well aware of the tons of swelling I still have going on! This is a roller coaster so I'm sure ill have more bad days but today is good. :-). Hope all of you ladies are doing well in your healing or planning process. I love reading everyone's stories.

Today I am 16 days PO and I got my first lymphatic massage and honestly it felt really weird during because I'm still so numb some places but it really helped me especially in the Lipo areas. I can feel a difference already in the scar tissue and how it is helping to break it down better. I think I will make this a regular thing for awhile to help reduce swelling and promote healing. Yesterday I had my 2nd check up and my PS is awesome, along with his staff but especially his medical assistant. She is very funny and thought it was amusing when I mentioned that some days I feel as if my belly button is being eaten by my stomach lol. Anywho my PS did a test to make sure I didn't have any fluid build up and I don't so I'm very pleased with that aspect although the test was no fun lol. A needle in your stomach I guess shouldn't sound fun though but I was glad to hear it was only normal swelling going on.

I still have good days and bad days but yesterday I was able to do quite a bit since it was one of my boys birthdays we threw him his party and had fun but last night I was feeling the pain from all the activity. I didn't take any pain meds just relaxed and let it pass. I hope everyone else is doing great :-). Oh and I ordered my silicone sheet for my scar therapy which I will start next week or so when my scar is fully healed. But that's it for now :-). My PS is great.

Well I am 32 days post op and I started back to work this past Tuesday which has been a challenge because this past weekend was an extremely demanding weekend at work. I have been feeling quite well, still really sore on my legs and my stomach has swelling which I know is to be expected. Trying to figure out what is normal and what is bad swelling has been something that I've struggled with. I am a nervous person by nature so every time I see that I have swelling I get nervous wondering if it is normal. I'm trying to focus on being positive and waiting for the final outcome whenever it appears. I switched from my comfortable safe CG to one that is easier to wear during work hours and it does not limit my swelling as much as my other one but I change into my more comfortable one as soon as I get home. Anywho 32 days PO and I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to do this! My husband has been amazing and helped so much through this experience :-). Hope all of you ladies are doing well and I will add more pictures hopefully tomorrow

This procedure has been one of the best decisions I have made for myself. The procedure itself was tough and had it's own challenges during the recovery but everything that I have felt has been so worth the way I feel right now. My confidence is coming back and I've been able to start working out recently which is a nice feeling. I still swell sometimes after working out or after a long day at work but that is to be expected. I focus more on what I am eating so I can keep this motivation going but for anyone deciding if this is what they want to do I can't explain enough how good of a decision this was. Best of luck to all you ladies on your journey :-)